


On the Dangers of Tongues

by Fa-Nuit-Hen (cliffracerx)



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Genre: Chimer, Ficlet, Fluff, Funny, Gen, Humor, Lighthearted, Morrowind, Resdayn, Short, Short Story, Silly, TES lore, first council, immature, pre-first council tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:44:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cliffracerx/pseuds/Fa-Nuit-Hen
Summary: While Almalexia attempts to inform the noble legions of Resdayn of the dangers (and idiosyncrasies) of potent Thu'um users, General Nerevar finds himself somewhat distracted.(Set during the First Era, during the war against the Nords/before Nerevar and Almalexia married.)





	On the Dangers of Tongues

These were the days in which Resdayn was uncertain of herself, trampled underfoot by inconsistent waves of mannish occupants. The First Council was a mere supposition, existing only as threads that lay close together upon a cluttered surface, awaiting the hands of one who might finally weave them together into one tapestry.

* * *

 Toward the latter half of the war against the demons of the North, the strategic meetings in that took place in Mournhold became increasingly difficult (not for want of ability or competence of those present) moreso after General Nerevar had formally entered the fray. He had all but flown through the ranks, courtesy of one successful heroic feat after the next, and he was undeniably better at organizing and re-energizing the morality of those who wished to see the occupying forces expelled from their lands than anybody else. The soldiers loved him well, and he loved them in turn.

Whenever he began to rattle off positioning strategies, Almalexia saw within her mind a gigantic version of Nerevar picking up groups of small Chimer soldiers as though they were mere toys, dispersing them in various clusters throughout the environment, always in the most eclectic manner possible. There had been many who openly levied doubts against his unusual methods–but every subsequent victory had seen their numbers dwindle. Many argued that part of Nerevar's brilliance as a general was _because_ of his ability to think outside the box (the box, in this case, was the Nordic mind.) **  
**

For productivity’s sake, each of the meeting’s participants had to take turns if they wish to say their piece. This way, the bickering would be kept to a relative minimum. “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Almalexia began as she made her way the to the centre of the room. It was her turn, after all.

Despite her best efforts at silken-smooth subtlety, her  ~~superficially~~  affable tone rang positively rife with obvious hints of excitement.  _“A little secret,”_ she’d said--but it was, in actuality, merely an opening of the floodgates, behind which existed a torrent of such “secrets”, for discussing the private interactions and unusual idiosyncrasies of Nordic warlords delighted Almalexia to no end.

“The true reason for the exorbitant tributes imposed upon Chimer communities revolves around the habits of the Tongues! They’re _always_ in need of more money with which to support their habits–specifically, to afford replacement shuttlecocks for one of their favorite pastimes. Since their… _behaviours_ …constantly destroy or damage things within the vicinity whenever one of them is nearby–” (She cast a small, discreet glance in Nerevar’s direction as she said this.)

“They constantly find themselves in search of things with stronger materials and better craftsmanship. And it is not difficult to guess who pays the price.”

A nearby gaggle of soldiers exchanged glances, aghast. Howbeit, Almalexia simply smiled, continuing patiently. They didn’t know the worst of it. She steered the topic back toward some semblance of relevance to the matter at hand–positioning troops in the most strategically expedient manner possible. 

As Chimer were generally regarded as a superstitious lot, many of those present were not wholly aware of the Nords’ most fearsome weapon: the Tongues; those who knew well the earth-rending language of the _dov_ and how to use it with fatal efficiency. All present save Almalexia herself had yet to actually encounter a capable Thu’um user in combat–and even a capable user’s Voice would barely amount to a plate of scuttle compared to Ysmir, Hoag, Chemua, Bhag and Barfok. (To her mind, Jurgen, while dangerous if provoked, seemed the least worrisome of the lot.)

“While the Nords are powerful in many ways, their Tongues are their greatest asset. If they can shout a mere shuttlecock out of existence, then they can most certainly do the same to any of us.” Scarcely had these words been uttered before a muted, low-pitched giggle was heard from the left. Almalexia’s eyes narrowed. The warm, nurturing, ever-patient maternal facade (for which Mother Ayem was best known ) flickered for a moment, like a candle against an abrupt gust of wind as she scanned the faces of those gathered for indications that might betray the identity of the one laughing.

It came as no real surprise when she noticed that, rather conveniently, the Hortator burying the lower portion of his face into a cyan ash-scarf, no doubt pretending as if he were wheezing. Vivec had once said that the whole of Resdayn was her "orphanage", and the immature behavior of these soldiers--many of whom were age and battle-hardened--seemed to lend yet another grain of validity to the statement. It seemed that even mer several times her age fell gracefully into the category of being  _"her children."_

When it came time for questions at the end (thankfully, Almalexia had to suffer no further interruptions), one of the soldiers asked, somewhat forcedly while feigning interest (for he’d received a sharp elbow to the gut from the General, who sat to his right), “How does the game work?”

“There is a myriad of rules–each of them more perplexing than the last because the Tongues possess, ah, unique abilities…”

“O, I’ll _bet_ they do,” came a murmur from among the gathering, which was accompanied by a few snorts. By now, roughly half of the congregation was grinning--but if Nerevar had his way, they would  _all_ be grinning by the time the meeting was over. All except for Almalexia, perhaps, but at least Nerevar had managed to keep the interruptions during her lecture to a relative minimum. (As Nerevar's curiosity was paralleled only by his propensity to get into trouble, so was his wont to ask a flood of questions at an inopportune time.)

“…Even so,” Almalexia continued firmly (and a little more loudly,) “They _always_ manage to ruin or destroy the shuttlecock! But as for how things pan out? Basically, the shuttlecock is passed between the Tongues--”

At this point, Nerevar couldn’t help it. He'd been fighting it back for so long, but for no longer. He burst into thunderous, good-natured laughter after forcing himself to bite his lower lip nearly to the point of bleeding when Almalexia said something to the effect of,  _“We don’t want any Tongues to catch us off guard, or force us into a vulnerable position!”_

When the General laughed, so too did the others. Partaking in his surprisingly infectious joy was somewhat obligatory, often happening whether or not one wished it. Even Almalexia couldn’t help but smile slightly at this slightly immature display.

“How brave our General is,” one of the awed, onlooking councilors whispered while leaning toward his fellow. “That he  _laughs_ in the face of such a threat!”

Almalexia smiled thinly. Was it bravery, foolishness, or simply a product of insouciance?

**Author's Note:**

> -Headcanons and a lot of the dialogue for Almalexia enjoying gossip about the Nords are NOT mine, they came from AeAyem. Go check out her work, it's absolutely brilliant!  
> -Nerevar just kinds of just assumes that almalexia is wording things the way she does because it's Funney Joake about the nords haha (Also, if he is not in on the joke then he will make his own!)  
> -The idea for this ficlet came about as a result of a fun conversation in my discord channel!  
> -The first draft of this came from my writing blog, https://rosewornprinceofgarlands.tumblr.com/ ! there will be more stuff like this on there :D


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